November 18, 2016

In the 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson presents how ordinary human beings can pull off the extraordinary.

The war film not only features the selflessness of medic Desmond Doss. It captures how that military unit grows to accept and value a person as different as Doss. Through returning to real life as it is lived Gibson has made a comeback.

Essentially, Doss is a wounded soul from Virginia. He is traumatized that he almost killed his brother Hal in roughhousing and his father who was abusing his mother.

Consequently, he refuses to use arms when he signs up for the army in World War II. Of course, the military chain of command as well as members of his unit push back. He could have spent his life in a military prison.

But, he doesn't. He goes out there to take Hacksaw Ridge from the enemy - the Japanese. He does that as a medic without a weapon. In the process, he creates a unique way to rescue those shot. That's carrying them to the edge of the cliff and lowering them down on the rope. He learned how to make those kinds of knots in basic training.

His mantra is: One more. He keeps returning to the battle field to carry off one more of his buddies and "bosses." Some of them had been his main persecutors.

The story is true. Those who had tormented him honor his values. Before they go out again to battle, they delay a bit to allow him to take the time to pray for the unit. He is awarded a Medal of Honor.

Gibson has given us a message for these uncertain, scary times: There is tremendous good, courage, and capacity for growth in each of our fellow humans. The ordinary can be all we need to get through life as it is.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

The Drudge Report is tracking how the president-elect is evolving from a business tycoon to a politico. At its core, politics is the art of compromise. And Donald Trump is showing that he is getting his head around that.

The headliner on Drudge is that the leader Trump called a "loser" is being considered for the cabinet position of secretary of state. That's Mitt Romney who lost the race to president Obama. Romney had called Trump a "phony." Here is the coverage n CNBC.

Romney can be useful to Trump. As a traditional conservative, he can be a liaison to the old-guard GOPers in Congress. That's what Trump needs to get his agenda done. Sure, the executive branch has ways around Congress. From high school civics class we know about executive orders and so on.

But, a president who doesn't have the mindset of a horse-trader and the skills to pull that off will go down in history as a do-nothing executive.

Trump could have a capacity for growth many did not anticipate.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

"Most of us have someone like Christopher Hitchens in our lives, someone we love who is so hell-bent on self-destruction that we feel powerless to help them." - Larry Alex Taunton, in 2016 book "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens"

When Christopher Hitchens died at age 62 in 2011, many of us mourned an original thinker who lived life as he wanted.

Yes, in the emerging era of wellness, he persisted in smoking cigarettes and drinking too much alcohol. But, I had never heard in my circles him being described as "self-destructive." Perhaps the term "self-indulgent" might have been justified.

He published unpopular opinions. His signature became his brutal attack on Mother Teresa. But, so many of us viewed that as intellectual courage, not self-destruction.

After all, Jesus Christ preached what was unpopular in his time. In "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus Finch defended an unpopular client. On Abovethelaw, a high-traffic digital legal news site, the lawyer-journalists take controversial stances.

So, it seems puzzling that the author of "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens" would view that outsized life as "self-destructive."

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The Drudge Report provides a snapshot of the new seat of power in the free world. It's the Trump Tower in Manhattan.

It is there that old-line and freshly established influentials get on the elevator to, as the cliché goes, kiss the king's ring. That ruler is Donald Trump, president-elect. They range from Senator Jeff Sessions to son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Drudge Report links to the coverage in the Daily Mail.

Some of the visitors to the Tower will shape the policies which determine global trade, cost of healthcare in America, and how Social Security will be kept financially solvent.

Others will wind up alienating Trump. In their holiday stockings, pre-inauguration, will be the black coal of power lost. The media will heap ridicule on them. They will be described as the Lost Generation of politicos.

Trump Tower could remain where history is written during the next four and maybe eight years. That edifice on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. could become a symbol of how the power game had been played prior to the Trump Administration.

In the late 1980s, Inside the Beltway journalist Hedrick Smith published the seminal "The Power Game." An equally enterprising writer could begin now on how power operates in Manhattan.

Conventional wisdom has it that D.C. is where you go to build power. And in Manhattan you create wealth. Manhattan might have taken the prize in both categories. D.C. could become a ghost town. School children and tourists will visit Trump Tower.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

November 16, 2016

Today, The Wall Street Journal disclosed yet another piece of the Theranos story. As many Theranos watchers recall, it was the WSJ which, in October 2015, first raised issues about the supposed breakthrough technology. After that, the once revered startup faced the heat from not only media but regulatory agencies and then investors and consumers.

As for the latest ...

Former Secretary of State George Schultz is on the board of directors. His grandson Tyler Shultz, we now find out, had been an early whistleblower about the alleged flawed research and lack of proper quality control procedures. And that has created a rift with his grandfather. Here is the coverage in Sfist. (Articles from WSJ are behind a paywall.)

After he worked at Theranos about eight months, Tyler sent a message to the internal leadership complaining about alleged doctored research and inadequate quality control. The president of the company responded with a criticism of Tyler's understanding of math and the testing industry.

Next, Tyler alerted New York officials. Not only has there been an estrangement from his grandfather. He has paid about $400,000 in legal bills.

The question arises, of course: Should Tyler have just gone and found another job, not saying anything internally or externally? Or should he have followed his values and made his concerns known?

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

The world has changed. Post-election of Donald Trump, public affairs players are among those who have to re-think how they get results for their clients.

In PR Week, Chris Daniels reports that most are braced for uncertainty. Trump is a leader full of surprises. And that is the core of his power. He controls the narrative by changing it, frequently on a dime.

But, in more specific terms, public affairs firms have developed a distrust of data. Sure, it's to be looked at. But be careful how it's interpreted. Better yet, start out any client campaign on the ground, with the people. And build the campaign bottom-up. Grassroots is the new road to results.

How clients are advised to communicate will change. Perhaps significantly. Instead of a business-like tone, they will have to come out and meet the people. That started as The Facebook Effect. Trump only demonstrated how much that populist approach resonates.

Also how clients present "evidence" will have to lose its elitist roots. That is, instead of simulating a Harvard term paper, the presentation of an argument will have to have myriad sources. Those could, yes, include research. But also folk wisdom, common sense, and inspirational stories.

The transition to the new kinds of communications will provide increased work for those who know how to listen to the people and the marketplace.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

Atticus Finch motivated us to try to be better human beings, at least when we were experiencing his world.

And Perry Mason represented the best of character-building old-line television.

All were forms of Houdini. They could create unique ways in which we could escape the brutal realties of how it is to be an actual practicing lawyer.

Anyone who has worked at a law firm or as a vendor to lawyers understands the pressures on lawyers. The ethos seems anti-human.

Recently, I had done an assignment for an immigration law firm. I couldn't sleep. My shoulders ached from hammering at Word. And I got it how each case, no matter how weak, had to be presented for the lawyers to truly be the client's pull-out-all-stops advocate. Otherwise, of course, there could be a malpractice lawsuit.

On Abovethelaw, lawyer-journalist, Kathryn Rubino, introduces the subject of fictional lawyers. Here you can read that.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).

Maybe the Drudge Report is experiencing the post-election downturn in traffic on its website.

So, it needs to diversify its subject matter from the wonderful world of Trump. How much more of the Oranging of America can be absorbed?

That might explain the Drudge Report headline today. It's all about the bipartisan journalist at Fox News Megyn Kelly. The link is to a flattering article about her in the Hollywood Reporter. And, the photo captures her glamour. Today also is the day that Kelly's book "Settle for More" is out there.

Currently, Kelly is in the process of negotiating her contract with Fox News. She's a megawatt star there.

In the media, sun-god at 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch, tried not to sound anxious about the possibility of losing this big name to another network. He indicated that there is a deep bench of talent. But, he might be scared.

After all, the brandname and the business of Fox News are in play since the Roger Ailes sex scandal. And, Trump is unpredictable. He could turn on Fox.

In her book Kelly rats out Ailes. He allegedly tried to extract kisses from her, threatening to fire her if she resisted. Also, she claims Trump tried to exchange good coverage for gifts.

If Kelly weren't so well-credentialed, she might be positioned and packaged as the "it" girl. She has a law degree and even worked at an associate at law firm Jones Day.

That, incidentally, is the white-shoe outfit which represented Trump's Make America Great Again campaign. If Jones Day doesn't alienate Trump and his brash band of the Trumpettes, the partners there could have unique access to the White House.

They could also have input on the selection of justices for the U.S. Supreme Court. Annually, Jones Days tends to hire more former SCOTUS clerks than any other white-shoe firm. Each receives a sign-up bonus of up to $300,000.

The world has changed. Contact Jane Genova for complimentary consultation to get the competitive edge in your marketing communications (janegenova374@gmail.com).